


Somehow, Somehow

by mystic_hyacinth



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Aftercare, Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Aphrodisiacs, Azula is the Worst, Betrayal, Bondage, Canon Compliant, Creampie, Cunnilingus, Drugged Sex, Dubious Consent, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/M, Face-Fucking, Face-Sitting, Forced Bonding, Fuck Or Die, Fucked Up, Guilty Pleasures, Hand Jobs, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Nipple Play, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Oral Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Reunion Sex, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Spit As Lube, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Zuko (Avatar) whump, amirite, except not really, set during season 2, with friends like these
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:34:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29697189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mystic_hyacinth/pseuds/mystic_hyacinth
Summary: Azula and Ty Lee notice Mai has been more morose than she usually is. In order to help her feel more herself (whatever that means), they give her a very misguided gift from the streets of Ba Sing Se.
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	Somehow, Somehow

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah hi hello I am not dead and I watched all of ATLA instead of studying for my Russian final, this is the product of that. Set in Season 2 while the Gaang, Zuko and Iroh and Ozai's angels are posted up in Ba Sing Se. Zuko and Mai nineteen in this and had sex before Zuko left when they were sixteenish so no harm no foul. 
> 
> Title is taken from The Neighborhood's 'Stuck with Me'

“You’re moping again.” said Azula. 

“I’m always moping, I thought that was why you liked me.” deadpanned Mai, only eating in an attempt to keep herself from having to talk anymore.

“Partially, yes.” said Azula, making a point not to even touch her food as she stared Mai down from across the table. “However, you’re more mopey than usual. Kyoshi Warriors aren’t known for their relentlessly dour demeanors, are they?”

“We’re only supposed to  _ look _ like them.” retorted Mai. “Putting on all that awful makeup isn’t going to turn me into Ty Lee anytime soon.”

Ty Lee hardly acknowledged the jab, turning back to Azula as if Mai had never been part of the conversation to begin with. “I think you’re absolutely right. Mai here’s been really down in the dumps lately.”

Azula nodded. “Indeed, we can’t have it. Don’t you agree, Mai?”

“I’m not letting you two give me a makeover if that’s what you’re plotting.”

Ty Lee giggled and even Azula’s smirk softened just for a split second. “While the idea is tempting, we know that to lift your spirits you need something with a little more staying power.” said the princess. “We have a gift for you, something even  _ you _ can’t say no to.”

Mai’s eyes darted about for a moment, looking sharply at darkened corners of the room, even going so far as to check under the table. However, her every movement was accompanied by the rising chorus of her friends’ laughter and knowing whispers as they watched her.

“Okay, knock it off.” Mai snapped, slamming her fist down hard enough to silence the laughter and rattle the tableware. “You’ve been giggling and whispering like this for days and I  _ know  _ there’s something you’re not letting me in on. I’m not gonna sit here and have you two turn me into your little court jester, that’s Ty Lee’s job.”

Ty Lee seemed not to notice the jab, instead turning back to Azula. “Are you finished eating?” asked the princess.

Mai’s scowl darkened. “Get to the point.”

Azula called for the guards outside and they bowed upon making their entrance. “Take Mai up to her room, we have something waiting for her there.”

Mai’s eyes widened slightly. Since they’d gotten to Ba Sing Se, they’d been sharing one room together - as is custom for Kyoshi Warriors like themselves. It had been her first time since the Academy that Mai had to share space with them and she’d welcomed the change (though she’d never admit it). Now, Azula was cutting her off from the group? For what?

“If your plan is to isolate me, it’s not working. We’re supposed to be in on this together so what makes you think you can just cut me out in the middle of everything?”

But Azula had already turned back to her food, seemingly ignoring Mai as though she were a petulant child throwing a tantrum. “I’m not getting rid of you, Mai. You’re too valuable” her eyes flickered up one last time. “However, I want to make sure you get to fully enjoy your gift without having to hear Ty Lee’s snoring.”

Ty Lee, though visibly miffed, urged Mai out with a shooing motion. “We promise you’ll like it! It took us a long time to find!”

Mai glanced between the two of them for a split second more before turning sharply out. She could only hope whatever they’d left her could be easily chucked out of the window. 

The Dai Li were silent as they went through the palace, taking her down strange turns and up previously unseen staircases. Mai did her best to keep track of the labyrinthine route, but her own thoughts muddled the path. What could possibly warrant all this sneaking around and giggling? It had to be some test of Azula’s, making sure she’d stay loyal to the plan no matter what the girl threw at her. She wanted her to be obedient and pliable and clearly her behavior was stepping in the way of that.

Yet, Ty Lee seemed genuinely happy to let her in on it and she would never reign concern, at least not as well as Azula could. As for her other friend, Mai tried to be optimistic, hoping this was Azula’s weird little way of caring for her. She sighed, keeping her eyes trained forward. 

They were still her friends, maybe she just needed to stop being so paranoid and trust them. 

They had climbed three more flights of stars before coming down to a lone door in a seemingly abandoned, dimly lit hallway. The Dai Li bowed to her, going to stand wordlessly on either side of the door. 

Mai looked towards them for a moment, but their eyes never met hers as they stared blankly out into the empty hall. The door was unlocked and she checked for her knives one final time, just in case whatever ‘gift’ her friends had left her proved to be troublesome. 

They wouldn’t do that, but still, she braced herself as she pushed the door open. 

The room was lit only slightly better than the hallway, a warm greenish glow cast on the biggest bed Mai had ever seen. Lush drapes turned the walls into pure silk and though Mai looked, she could see no windows, nothing to escape from her and whatever pitiful lump was on the bed save for the door behind her.

As she focused on said pitiful lump in the bed, her stomach dropped before it could emit an even more pitiful, “Mai?”

The rasp, despite sounding more ruined and destroyed, was undeniable in its familiarity and closeness. She tried to see reason, stepping back towards the door. They must have drugged her food at dinner, making her see things and people to break her down into submission. Azula wasn’t above that type of thing for anyone else, but Mai had always hoped she’d be above it when it came to her friends.

Yet, the lump rasped again. “Mai, Mai it’s me. It’s me.”

Mai’s feet moved of their own accord as she went towards the bed. His hair was shorter and sticking up in awkward angles as if someone had pulled him by it. He was bare, the usual smooth, porcelain skin blooming with a kaleidoscope of vivid, sickly color as though every part of him was splattered with dark paint. He strained weakly against the heavy chains that were fastened to some type of heavier weight behind the bed.

“It’s me.” he rasped again, as loud as it seemed he could go. That was all it took before Mai was rushing to the bed, his clammy, feverish skin hardly deterring her as she embraced him. 

Though Zuko couldn’t move his arms, she could feel his warmth rush towards her, her body relaxing against her weight. It was home, it was perfect.

“It’s okay, I - I’m here.” she whispered, rocking the two of them gently. She wanted to tell him he was safe, that nothing would hurt him but she couldn't’ even be sure of that. If he was safe, Azula would have no idea he was here. If he were safe she wouldn’t have looked like he’d just been tossed down a ravine.

If he were safe, he wouldn’t be here.

Mai reached for one of the knives in her sleeves, trying to pick the lock of the chains. Even if she didn’t manage to free him, she could loosen them, make whatever was going on as easy on him as possible. Though she jostled and fought, they wouldn’t budge and if anything, Zuko sounded even more uncomfortable the more she tried to work with them. 

“I’m sorry, Zuko. Do you want me to stop?”

“Please.” he whispered. Mai turned back to the arrow still wedged in the keyhole and sighed. This was their gift? Zuko but all battered and bruised and out of it? This was it.

Yet her heart lurched, it was Zuko, after all this time. Scar healed, hair grown out, voice the same but worse. She never doubted they would find him but still, what words can you even say when all the air has been knocked out of you? 

Once he quit trying to undo the lock was when she noticed the small slip of parchment tied with ribbon and wedged snugly in the chain about Zuko’s neck. Careful not to hurt Zuko she slipped it out of the chain, taking off the silk ribbon and unrolling the note.

_ ‘To Mai, _

_ Surprise! We’re glad you’ve found your gift! We found him and Uncle a couple of days ago, which means this part of the mission is complete, but you really are bad for morale when you’re so upset. It took some haggling and some - forceful convincing, but we managed to do this for you. Don’t worry, the drugs we’ve given him should only last for the night, but that should give you two plenty of time to get reacquainted with one another. I’d work quickly, the old woman who gave them to us said that if he goes too long without cumming there could be some fatal consequences, too much blood flow going to certain areas that aren’t his brain. However, I know you two don’t have any problem being whores when it comes to one another, so I trust you won’t have to worry about any of that danger. _

_ See you in the morning! _

_ \- Azula & Ty Lee _

It was sickening, written in Azula’s sharp, perfect handwriting and reading like a mockery. Even Ty Lee’s curlequed signing of her own name seemed harsh. Leave her out of half the plan, kidnap her boyfriend and drug him? Of course they would do this to her. Azula wanted her to be happy (or at least whatever her version of happy was) but they did this. Half their mission was finished and they were using their consolation prize as a what? A pick-me-up for her? They should be en route back to the Capital immediately and yet they were here, giving her this time with him before they dragged him back. 

Mai wanted to be touched and grateful, but she could only look at the state Zuko was in and drew backwards, unsure that if she lay a finger on him he wouldn’t disintegrate.

If anything, she cursed him for not running fast enough. 

“Zuko?” Mai asked, not sure what (if any) answer she would get in return. “Zuko, can you hear me?

He groaned a little, looking up at her through bleary eyes. “Need...need, need you Mai, missed you so much.”

“I’m here now, it's okay.”

Yet, as his nonsense groans kicked up in pitch her eyes could only trail downwards. She’d tried her best to look past his nudity, vision too obscured by the bruises and scars to really soak him in. Now it was hard to forget as his cock steadily hardened despite the fact she had only just been holding him. She bit her lip, though she could feel her mouth beginning to water as his cock swelled.

Azula had taken him, drugged him and done whatever else to put him in this state. She should be reasonable and just leave, refuse this twisted gift and forget this night ever happened. Yet, could she leave Zuko - abandon him here all disheveled and needy and weak for the sake of saying she did it?

“Need you, Mai…” he repeated, his hips canting upwards weakly. 

His words made her want to cover her ears and scream. The  _ drugs _ needed her there, they were speaking through him. If anything he hated her, wished she had been there to save him when Azula or whoever else snatched him up and beat him and brought him here. 

_ “Mai…” _

“Zuko, I can’t.” she said, voice pointed. “Not while you’re like this, I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to use you like this.”

Zuko’s brows furrowed and he managed the barest shake of his head. “Not bad.” he said. “Love you, need you, it’s okay.”

Mai quickly swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked at him. His voice was pained but his eyes, after everything - all these years apart, didn’t change, that softness reserved for only a handful of people in their wretched world.

“I love you, Zuko. I’m sorry.” she whispered.

She could have sworn she saw a tear come from his good eye. “Love you too. It’s okay.” he repeated. 

She kissed him, wishing so badly that she could have his arms about her, feeling his warmth envelop her as she did this. Zuko seemed to be giving his all in whatever way he could, pushing his head and tongue into the kiss as they went, moving his hips to at least prove to her that he was enjoying this. 

She took her time touching him, her hands trailing lazily up and down his body, gingerly dodging the splotchy marks that covered him. He moaned softly against her lips, pushing himself into her gentle touch. She lamented how long it had been since he’d felt it, felt kindness and the loving brush of hands from someone that wasn’t his Uncle. His mouth tasted the same, though slightly metallic from old blood. With the swipe of the tongue to check, she was glad he still had all of his teeth.

Mai deepened the kiss, licking his lips before diving her tongue back in. Zuko groaned, low and heavy into her mouth. She tried to think past the blood, focus on the feeling of their lips tangled together, focusing only on the taste of her Zuko. 

To her surprise he pulled away, revealing the furrow of his brow and the wanton quivering of his mouth. “Want to taste.” he murmured against her lips, eyes cast downwards. 

With only so many words, Mai got it. It was as close to a husky purr as he could muster and Mai did her best to tell herself that this was for him, that  _ he  _ needed the relief because of the drugs. Her cunt didn’t lie though and her mind could easily cast away such self-denying thoughts in favor of having Zuko tongue-fuck her. She let off of him for a moment to slip off her heavy dressing gown and remove the knife holsters from her arms, setting them on the night stand jus in case someone tried to use this somewhat tender moment as an excuse for an assassination attempt.

Bared before him, she saw Zuko smile, though she could only hope the act of doing so didn’t cause him any pain. “Beautiful.” he said and she could feel her body flush at his words. “Come here.”

Mai obliged and with some finagling managed to kneel over Zuko’s face, her thighs framing his head as her hands gripped the headboard. She tried to support most of her weight, not wanting to fully sit on him lest she collapse his windpipe or snap one of his ribs. 

“Good?” she asked.

He didn’t respond with words, only a playful swipe of the tongue to let her know all was well before he started kissing her folds.

Despite the state Zuko was in, he licked and sucked as if there wasn’t some black market aphrodisiac in his system and he didn’t look as if he’d been mauled. He worked slowly, laving his tongue over Mai’s folds and feeling as she trembled above him and struggled not to just drop her weight. She whimpered, swiveling her ships just slightly as a more pathetic attempt at trying not fuck his face given how weak he was. Still, she gave low little moans as he continued his long, languid licks up and down her cunt. 

Though Zuko had closed his eyes, Mai could still read the bliss on his face (the part of it that wasn’t covered by her pussy, at least). The pained creases had been smoothed out and he looked almost like he could drift off into a peaceful sleep at any moment. His tongue swiped slowly up and down her cunt, just barely dipping inside every so often to tease her. Mai shuddered, digging her nails into the notches of the headboard and hoping she could retain some modicum of self-control. 

“Fuck.” she growled, slow and strained as her arms began to shake. 

Mai tried not to cry out when Zuko started sucking, making a point not to go anywhere near her clit. Her hips moved slowly, trying to get as much of Zuko’s tongue on her as possible. Guilt continued to knot in her stomach, poisoning this experience no matter how much she tried to ignore it. If things were different, if they were back home or even somewhere else - somewhere that Zuko’s father nor her parents nor Azula nor the rest of the Fire Nation would dream to look for them, maybe then this would be a true ecstasy. The rattle of the chains as they moved served a reminder, neither of them was truly alright.

It was Zuko’s ceaseless need to drink Mai down that snapped her back to reality. His sucks had gotten hard and every so often he would dart his tongue inside her or flick over her clit. Even the roll of his chin against her taint was divine, better than any pillow she’d rutted against or toy she’d managed to fashion out of what was in arms reach of her bed at home. She could feel herself gushing into his mouth as he went, her body quivering with rapture as he finally started to tongue her clit properly. 

Her lips twitched, barely moving in time with her wavering voice as she moaned his name. Somewhere above the din, she could hear Zuko moaning too and swore her heart fluttered. Of course it was probably the drugs but still, Zuko at least seemed okay (dare she say, happy) with having her cunt shoved halfways down his throat.

In the midst of it she turned around, seeing just how hard Zuko’s cock had gotten as it rested in heavy, pulsing want against his tremoring stomach. Mai licked her lips and felt her pussy twitch just at the sight of it and she pursed her lips in a vain attempt to keep her mouth from watering. 

In the back of her mind she tried to convince herself that Azula had actually drugged her too, anything to keep her from feeling like several minutes of face-sitting was enough to lay waste to both her and her better judgement. 

Her voice juddered as his tongue curled about her clit, enfolding it in velvety warmth. She tried to brace her weight on her thighs before letting go of the headboard and reaching down to tug at Zuko’s hair. He groaned beneath her, hands twitching in his constraints with the need to touch her, dig her hands into the dips of her hips and lock her into him. 

She ground gently into his mouth, the croon of his name barely audible over the shifting of their bodies. Her arrows clinked next to them as they rocked the bed and for a moment she scanned the room. She shouldn’t be worried,  _ couldn’t _ be worried when Zuko was devouring her like this, when his cock throbbed just a few feet away from her. 

“Wait, Zuko. Let up for a moment.” Mai whispered and Zuko slowed down, his tongue going from fervent sucking to docile, indolent licks. Still trying to keep from crushing him, Mai bent backwards slightly, her hand going to wrap about his cock with a firm squeeze. 

Zuko groaned beneath her, the sounds of his pleasure rumbling against her cunt. As she set a rhythm with her hand, he began to lick again. 

Though the position was a little awkward and Mai’s thighs were starting to burn with how much of herself she was trying to support, she could hardly wince or complain. Zuko was greedy in his ministrations, noisily sucking and licking, as if trying to take each one of his taste buds on a grand tour of her twat. Mai was no better, remembering how long she’d dreamed of having Zuko with her like this once more, how no amount of time nor distance could fully stomp it out. Sure, she would deny it, at most only admitting to her friends that she had missed spending time with Zuko, but she tried her best to not confess to this. This was for her eyes, her thoughts - her  _ cunt  _ only. 

As Zuko’s movements became less coordinated and Mai struggled more, she hoped that her garbled warning that she was about to cum was enough. If Zuko heard her, he seemed just fine with it, his tongue moving vigorously as it curled beneath her clit, coaxing what he could out of her before she altogether lost it.

Mai braced herself, a string of curses unspooling from her as her pusssy twitched and spasmed against Zuko. She turned away from his cock to look back down at him, his eyes were fully open, meeting hers with such devotion and need, it was as though she’d been pushed. She came hissing his name, body going unnaturally still so that she wouldn’t completely drop her body onto him. He groaned, louder than he had before, funneling his tongue so he could catch all of her pussy juices in his mouth. Her hand stopped on his cock, squeezing it just enough to make his vision swim. She shook with the stain of holding herself up, chest trembling in a way that she knew if Zuko were more himself, he could have no problem cramming one of her tits in his mouth as she rode him into oblivion.

When she finally stopped shaking she unlocked Zuko’s head from between her legs, her body still feeling like jelly as she slunk down the bed until she was eye level with his long-suffering dick.

Her skills were rusty, but Zuko was never hard to please when it came to this. She darted her tongue out, licking one long stripe up Zuko’s cock. He mewled for her and a needy dribble of precum caught on her tongue on its way down his shaft. She didn’t mind taste, pointing her tongue at the large, branching vein on the underside of his dick. She could feel him shiver and she pressed her hands against his thighs, a silent reminder that she was here and despite everything, he was safe with her.

Somehow.

Mai teased him for a few moments longer, messaging her hands all his balls and swirling her tongue about his cock. Zuko gasped, his belly twitching as she refused to take him fully into her mouth. She watched as his mouth opened and is face reddened more, hips arching up to meet her lips. She squeezed his thighs, massaging the bruised skin before pulling off to press gente kisses against it.

“I’m sorry they did this to you.” she whispered. “I don’t like seeing you this way.”

Zuko took a moment to respond. “Doesn’t feel too bad when you’re here.”

Mai could only stared, mouth dumbly hanging open as Zuko’s eyes closed. She rubbed his thighs some more, feeling them untense beneath her hands. “I’m happy you’re here too, Zuko.”

She saw him smile and had to fight to keep herself from just breaking down.

After deciding Zuko had been teased enough for two lifetimes, she took the head in her mouth, hollowing out her cheeks and watching as Zuko’s face scrunched and his lips parted with an echoey moan. She tested the waters, curling her tongue about the head and stroking whatever she couldn’t fit in her mouth. Zuko didn’t complain, hips twitching and chains rattling as he struggled against the urge to grab her hair and tug her farther down. 

Swallowing more of Zuko’s precum proved to be a good choice as he moaned above her and she kept taking down more. Her hand that wasn’t working his cock was then trailed downwards to her still sopping and convulsing cunt. She had definitely had some stuff up there since her and Zuko had last done this, but she had to be sure she could take him, plus - it wasn’t like cock sucking didn’t rile her up enough to begin with.

She sucked him down eagerly and was happy for all the twitches his cock made and all the precum that continued to leak from him. His smell, his skin, his taste, all of it intoxicated her, pulling her under like a savage sea. It shouldn’t have been so good, so inviting and yet she wasn’t about to pull herself away, almost fearing that Zuko would vanish if she stopped touching him.

When she noticed his hips rocking slowly in and out of her mouth, she didn’t fight it, jaw going slack as Zuko took what he needed. She wondered if the drugs intensified it, that if he could feel every curve and twitch of her tongue as he dragged his cock over it. Her moans reverberated over him, making his hips seize up under the pleasure. Mai rubbed her clit faster as he went, fucking her hand with abandon.

Their moans met one another and through it all Mai kept watching. Zuko’s head had fallen back, what hair he did have fanned out against the pillow and his breathing labored as his hips moved faster. It took everything in Mai to pull off and some cruel part of her relished in Zuko’s weak little moans at the loss of her mouth. However, any more and she knew he would be a goner. 

Mai quickly moved to be straddling Zuko’s hips, positioning her cunt barely a few inches above his cock. Zuko’s eyes were wide and his hips moved up of their own accord, trying desperately to get into that tight heat.

“You sure…?” asked Zuko, Mai was a bit relieved, knowing Zuko was still ‘there’ enough to know the consequences of this.

“I’ll be fine, I promise. Just relax.” she whispered and she felt as Zuko’s body sank a bit more into the bed. Should any problems arise from this she could trust one of Ty Lee’s special ‘tonics’ to help out with it. For right now, there was work to be done. 

Rubbing her twitching cunt against his cock was perfection and the two of them crooned in unison. Zuko’s hips made slow clumsy movements, missing her hole but just feeling himself sliding against her way enough. The blessed heat and pulsing of Zuko beneath her was intoxicating, the sound of his groaning perfect despite its hushed and ragged tone.

Mai gave his cock a few strokes before starting to lower herself down onto him and a harsh breath emitted from both of them as she went. Zuko’s eyes screwed shut but Mai watched him closely, making sure she wasn’t hurting him as her body made its way down his cock. “Good…” he whispered. “So good…”

  
“You too…” she said, giving him a small smile and having her heart melt as he returned it. She kept sinking downwards, allowing both of them to adjust as she did. Zuko wasn’t so thick as he was long and so the journey would take a while, but she couldn’t help bouncing herself up and down a bit, taking down what she could and eagerly anticipating the rest.

“Mai…” he called to her. She couldn’t tell if it was a plea for her to go faster and stop teasing him or simply him wanting to feel her name against his lips. She leaned down to kiss him, continuing to move her hips until she was halfway down.

Even with just that amount in, her cunt felt properly filled. Yet she knew she couldn’t just leave it like this, she continued kissing him, bouncing her ass ever so slightly to try to get more and more in, moaning at the stretch and burn but nonetheless dutifully accepting it. Se could feel him twitch and jerk inside her and moaned, her cunt squeezing tighter as if in thanks.

A few more pushes up and down and he was seated within her, inch of glorious inch trapped deliciously inside her hot cunt. She looked down at him through barely open eyes. “That good?” she breathed.

“So good…” he wheezed out, she knew that after everything there was no way he could fully last, especially with the drugs. Mai could on kiss him as she started moving, thankful for the feeling and hoping that Zuko truly felt as good as she did.

Whatever that meant.

Zuko’s groans blended together as Mai began to move. Though the burn continued, Mai reveled in it, treasuring every dragging stretch as she worked Zuko in and out of her. 

Mai set the rhythm for the both of them, lifting her up slowly before slamming it down once she realized Zuko didn’t seem to be hurt by it. She kissed him, his lips molten against hers. He moaned her name with every breath, with blissful little half sentences joining every invocation. Mai could only mewl and moan as her movements sped up.

A twitch of her hips had caused the position to shift slightly and pretty soon she was arching away from him, lips pointed towards the ceiling and voice lifting in an aria of Zuko’s name. She wondered how she could have lived without this, how after three years this had been foreign to her and she’d somehow sustained herself without it. Her pussy thumped around Zuko’s cock, body practically liquefying as she took him over and over.

With her head thrown back she had hardly noticed Zuko’s mouth open and waiting for her to move a little closer. Too consumed up in the loving pushes of Zuko’s cock inside her, she was caught off guard when the boy took one of her tits into his mouth, sucking and flicking hard at the nipple with his tongue.

It was like a shot in the arm with his intensity and Mai looked back down at him. Their eyes met and no - the image was too close to the past with Zuko’s eyes so open and wanting and needy and his mouth so stuffed full of tit it was nearly comical. This small act of devotion had no place amongst all this, drugged and bruised bodies and morally gray reunions - all of it seemed to ugly for such things.

_ They _ had no place amongst all this yet here they were.

Mai continued to ride him, her movement slightly limited now that Zuko was moaning and groaning around her nipple. His hips bucking up slightly to meet her and she missed how he would squeeze her ass, leaving his handprint to mark her for days afterwards. Still, this was nothing to sneeze at, Zuko was driving into her, his cock leaving her feeling dizzy with every downstroke and with the way he moaned and how his eyes sparkled just looking at her, she couldn’t think of anything but this. 

Before, it was easy to tell when Zuko was cumming, because it was the only part of the sex he made a show of downplaying. No matter how much he moaned or begged or whined beforehand, he would go dead silent and put on his best attempt at a straight face as though he was trying to fight what was happening to him. It was a moment of vulnerability that he hated letting anyone see and Mai tried not to mind it so much, trying not to force Zuko to open up before he was ready.

Now it was different, it was like watching an explosion. The drugs had seared that guarded bit from in leaving him completely susceptible to whatever acts of violence his orgasm was putting him through. All the madness and chaos culminating in him as he spasmed and shook. She watched as his mouth fell open and his eyes screwed shut. His cock continued to pulse within her and she could hardly tear her eyes away from his face even as he shot his release into her. Their moans harmonized and she could only be in awe, looking down at him as literal stars seemed to erupt behind his eyes. 

It was and wasn’t Zuko, somehow this version of him, so willing to cum fully in front of her - was both the most foreign and familiar part of all this, like she was being told some dark secret he’d kept quiet for years, all of it laid out on display for her to see.

A weaker orgasm rippled through her, though she was unsure of whether it was from watching or feeling him cum. She let herself be and fell into Zuko, as he seemed to be having no problems doing it for her.

When Zuko’s face finally set itself back to normal, a tiny smile tugged at his lips. Mai leaned down again, kissing him and lightly resting herself against his chest. “Good, so good. I love you.” he whispered, craning his neck to plant a kiss on her forehead. She swallowed whatever ugly sound threatened to tear itself from her throat at that, uttering a small “I love you, too.”

Though Mai wanted to remain there forever, slowly peeled herself off his body. He whimpered at the loss of her but said nothing. “Give me a moment.” she whispered, kissing his chin and rolling shakily off the bed towards the door. She cracked it just enough to hiss for the guards to bring her some water and lots of it. She waited by the door, glancing back to watch as Zuko’s breathing started to even out again and his eyes began to open up a bit more. He was spent for now, but she would help him recover faster if she could. 

It was barely five minutes before the knock at the door heralded the water. Mai accepted it barely so much as a thank you, rushing back to the bed and rubbing Zuko’s arm as she tipped the glass bottle into his mouth. 

Neither of them spoke, but she watched as she greedily emptied the bottle. She refilled it again and again he downed it. They did it once more until both the bottle and the pitcher were empty and Zuko was left to exhale shaky, chilled breaths. His skin regained some of its normal pallor, save for the bruises and cuts and though she could see it was difficult, he did his best to open his eyes fully. 

“How do you feel?” she asked.

He nodded and Mai tried to blame whatever semblance of a smile she thought she saw on a trick of the light. She leaned down to kiss him again, whatever warmth she had started to feel less feverish now that he had something to cool him down. Yet, she knew the heat would return within him. She knew daylight would come and this would be over. The morning would bring work and consequences and separation, it would bring more uncertainty of whether or not Zuko would be safe.

Mai sighed, unable to fully relax into his touch but grateful for the fact that the room lacked windows. They had all the time they needed. 

**Author's Note:**

> Stay safe and stay sane.
> 
> @plentyokenty on Tumblr


End file.
